DeMeco Ryans Could Be Texans Head Coach For a Very Long Time

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has completed three seasons at the helm.

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans during the second half of an AFC Wild Card Round game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans is 32-19 in his three seasons leading the team, which is among the best in the league over that span of time.

Ryans' hire has transformed the Texans, taking them from a rebuilding project to a playoff contender, but the team is still a step behind the other Super Bowl hopefuls. ESPN analyst Bill Barnwell ranked all of the head coaching hires from 2021 onwards and placed Ryans at No. 5 on the list.

"Ryans took over a Texans team that had won three or four games in each of the three seasons before his arrival. It has won 10 or more games in each of his first three years at the helm, adding a playoff victory in each of those campaigns for good measure."

"Ryans has been one of the league's most conservative coaches on fourth down, which has been a liability at times, but you can understand why given the struggles the Texans have had running the football," Barnwell wrote.

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Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans looks on in the second quarter against the New England Patriots. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

DeMeco Ryans Still Among Best NFL Head Coaches

The only people ranked higher on the list than Ryans are Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots, Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks, Nick Sirianni of the Philadelphia Eagles and Dan Campbell of the Detroit Lions.

This year marks 20 years since Ryans joined the Texans organization as a second-round pick out of Alabama. So he has the legacy that no one else in the franchise has. He has the potential to be the head coach for the Texans for a very long time, especially if he continues this run of postseason appearances.

The lack of success beyond the divisional round is somewhat concerning, but it is not enough at this moment in time to suggest that he could be in any danger of losing his job.

He has work to do this offseason, but the Texans' issues aren't incredibly damning. These are details that need some fine tuning for the new year.

Ryans has the ability to be like Mike Tomlin and Andy Reid and possibly even Bill Belichick as a long-term head coach in the NFL. He just needs that added oomph to get the Texans from a playoff contender to true Super Bowl winner.

If he can bring a Super Bowl to the franchise, it could be the ticket for Ryans to stay in Houston for as long as he'd like to stay coaching.

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